Bird Magic: Wisdom of the Ancient Goddess for Pagans & Wiccans - Sandra Kynes 2016

Pheasant: Ring-Necked Pheasant
The Profiles

Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

In ancient China, the pheasant was considered an imperial bird associated with the sun, thunder, and wealth. It was also a symbol of cosmic harmony. Regarded as an emissary of Amaterasu in Japan, this bird was a symbol of mother-love and protection.

The pheasant was introduced into Europe in the early fourth century BCE.¹²⁹ Because the peacock came from the East and was associated with immortality, the same connection was applied to the less flamboyant but exotic-looking pheasant. In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts were said to have brought back several pheasants from their expedition to find the golden fleece.

The Romans, who enjoyed dining on them at lavish banquets, domesticated pheasants. Although the Romans were responsible for transporting many plants, birds, and animals into the British Isles, it is thought that the Normans introduced pheasants. Over time in England and Europe, pheasants escaped or were released and became wild birds. As such, they symbolized the power of nature and beauty.

In England, King Henry VIII began the practice of raising pheasants in captivity to be released on his estates for hunting. Not only were these highly-prized game birds popular in the dining halls of manor houses, they also served as graceful motifs in tapestries throughout Europe during the 1500s.¹³⁰ Along with peafowl and swans, pheasants were part of the menagerie of exotic animals at the Tower of London. They were introduced into North America in the 1880s.¹³¹

Pheasants usually walk or run and only occasionally resort to flying. The male’s loud two-note call can be heard up to a mile away. My house in England was in the countryside, where pheasants frequently visited the backyard. One year, a group became regular guests at breakfast time, gradually coming closer when I put out food for them. I felt privileged and blessed when the male eventually took food from my hand.

Magical Workings

As a solar bird, pheasant represents warmth, fertility, and prosperity. Its coloring echoes the ripening bounty of fields and gardens. Bring it into your Lughnasadh and Mabon rituals to help you celebrate the abundance of the harvest and give thanks. Call on this bird to boost spells for love, protection, and good luck. Dressed in beautiful colors, pheasant can also teach the finer points of attraction. As a personal guide bird, it provides support when confidence and determination are needed. If you feel that the stars are not aligned for you, ask pheasant to bring a little cosmic harmony to Earth to help you.

Make Connection

To connect with pheasant energy, place a picture of this bird on your altar and light a dark green candle around which you have painted a white ring. Sit tall with your back straight as you gaze at the image of the stately pheasant for several minutes, and then close your eyes. Imagine that you are standing in a grassy field at the edge of a wooded area. It is autumn and the world is ablaze in many shades of yellows, reds, golds, and browns. Visualize a pheasant slowly moving toward you as you offer the gift of food. It may stop and simply observe you, but if you are ready for contact, it will take the food.

Associations

Element(s): Earth, fire

Sabbat(s): Lughnasadh, Mabon

Goddess: Amaterasu

Solar system: Sun

Ogham: Beith

Bird Identification

Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

Also known as: Common pheasant

Size: 20 to 28 inches

Wingspan: 22 to 34 inches

Comparative size: Red-tailed hawk to goose

Description: Chicken-like; small head; long neck; plump body; long, pointed tail

Male: Red eye patches; iridescent green neck with wide white ring; mottled brown and iridescent russet body; long coppery tail with thin, black bars

Female: Mottled sandy brown; buff or cinnamon underparts; black spotting on sides; tail not as long as the male

Range: From New England across the northern United States and southern Canada, throughout the plains states, and areas of the West Coast

Habitat: Farmland, pastures, grassy areas, and woodland edges

Eggs: Olive-brown to blue-gray

Collective noun(s): In general, a brace, a drove, or a nest of pheasants; when on the ground they are called a covey, a nide, or a nye of pheasants; and when flushed out of the underbrush, a bouquet of pheasants

129. Werness, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art, 325.

130. Armstrong, The Life and Lore of the Bird in Nature, Art, Myth and Literature, 204.

131. Wells, 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names, 189.